Snakes in a house: What to do!

It’s the monsoons and that means a lot of animals move out of their flooded burrows and holes and look for shelter in dry and warm places. It’s not uncommon to find snakes moving about and seeking refuge in human habitations and gardens.

In case you have a slithery visitor at home, heed the wise words of Douglas Adams and Don’t Panic! Most snakes are non-venomous and in case you can’t identify it, don’t kill it. There are a bunch of helpful people (listed below) who you can call to help you identify, catch and release it safely in the wild. Just make sure you keep an eye on the snake’s movements so the volunteer can locate it easily when he arrives.

In case of snake bite, follow this treatment plan:

Reassure the patient.

If the bite is on the hand or the arm, put the arm in a triangular sling and get hospital treatment urgently.

If the bite is on the leg, put it in a splint to immobilise the bite. Again, get hospital treatment urgently.

The patient should be encouraged to keep still and move as little as possible.

Treat a venomous snakebite with ASV or Anti-Snake Venom (also called antivenom or antivenin) at a doctor’s clinic or in hospital. Care should be taken to ensure that the patient is not allergic to ant venom. 20% of all people who are given ASV treatment develop some kind of allergic reaction.

Do not:

Wash the wound; the act of washing leads to moving the venom around the body.

Cut or burn the wound.

Attempt to suck the venom out of the wound.

Apply a tourniquet or pressure bandage (the only time a pressure bandage should be considered is if the snake concerned is definitely, 100% a Krait and the journey to hospital is going to take several hours. If the journey is only going to take up to a couple of hours the same treatment should be given as that for any other venomous bite)

Give anything by mouth except in the case of dehydration.

Self-administer antivenom. This is particularly dangerous without the ability to cope with any allergic reaction, which has the potential to kill far quicker than any snake bite.

The mere act of sticking a needle into your tissue can cause un-controlled bleeding and oedema (swelling). This is why Anti-Snake Venom should be administered by a doctor in hospital!

The Russel Viper. Photo Credits – rahulalvares.com

These hospitals and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) have ASV in case of a venomous snakebite:

Hospitals: Goa Medical College (GMC), Bambolim. Hospicio, Margao. Asilo, Mapusa.(If there is enough time, take the patient to GMC.)

PHCs with phone numbers (call to check if Anti-Snake Venom is in stock):